Soaring above Oregon Wine Country : A Hot Air Balloon Ride in Newberg

May 18, 2018

A couple years ago for my 30th birthday Nick had booked us a hot air ballon ride in Newberg, Oregon, about 30 minutes South of us here in Portland. Unfortunately they canceled our ride the day before we were due to fly due to weather which left us disappointed as we have been wanting to do a hot air balloon ride forever. Fast forward a year and a half and we had never gotten around to rescheduling our ride, when Nick came home with a fun surprise! He had rescheduled our ride for this past weekend and so on a warm Spring Saturday morning this week, we got up at 4am and drove down to Newberg for our first hot air balloon ride. Long story short, we loved it and I’m sure we’ll be doing many hot air balloon rides all over the world in the future!

We flew with Vista Balloons in Newberg and loved the experience with them. From start to finish, the whole experience was lovely. We watched as the balloons were filled and then as they each started taking off. We flew over the Willamette River and marveled at the beauty of soaring above Oregon wine country, vineyards and farmland, fog slowly rolling over the countryside below us. I was remarkably surprised at how smooth the ride was, how we lifted and fell so calmly. For my first hot air balloon ride, I couldn’t believe how peaceful it was up there. I know we’ll for sure be doing hot air balloon rides again in the future as we loved it so much, but for now, here’s some photos of our morning the air in a hot air balloon ride in Newberg and a little video I put together so you can experience a sense of what we did too!

My Favorite Places in the USA (so far…)

May 16, 2018

While I’ve seen a lot of the world, I’m still a huge proponent of seeing my own country of the USA as well. And each year, Nick and I make a real effort to explore as much of the US as we can in addition to our overseas trips. We still have a lot of places to see (and next year are going to be focusing on a bunch more!), but so far I’ve been to 32 states and countless cities and I plan to expand on that in the coming years. There is nothing more important than seeing your own country, than witnessing how life is different in different places, how people think differently about different issues and how it changes your perspective of your own country to witness that. So while I have a lot of places left so see, here are some of my favorite places in the USA so far in my journey and places that have touched me deeply within the borders of the United States in hopes that you might want to explore more of the amazing country that is the USA.

*Note: While I’ve liked a ton of places in the USA, I’m limiting this list to the places that I’ve LOVED!

Portland (and Oregon in general)

My home city of Portland is a pretty special place and my home state of Oregon is still, in my opinion, a hidden gem in the USA. I’ve seen incredible places all around the world, but I still have to say, Oregon rivals incredible beauty anywhere in the world. You’ll find more green here than almost anywhere else, amazing food and views that will leave you breathless.

For more, read my:

Portland posts

Vermont

I fell in love with Vermont when we visited in the Autumn a couple years ago and we already have plans to return again in the Fall next year to take in the beauty all over again. As we drove through Vermont on a lovely October day, I told Nick that someday when we retire, I could see myself having a little horse farm in the hills of Vermont – that’s how much I loved it. Vermont has a beauty unlike anywhere else and the colors in the Fall were so surreal, we kept remarking that this couldn’t possibly be real life. You’ll find perfect little storybook towns, rolling hills of foliage and incredible landscapes in the beauty that is Vermont.

For more, read my:

Vermont posts

Charleston, South Carolina

I fell hard for Charleston when we visited for the first time earlier this year and I know we’ll back many times in the future. To be honest, if we were in the market to move, I would move to Charleston – it was that special! From the kindness of the locals to the amazing food and the incredible architecture, Charleston is one of a kind in the USA and makes you feel like you’re somewhere totally different. You’ll find incredible Southern food, rainbow colored houses and cobblestone streets that will steal your heart in Charleston.

For more, read my:

Charleston posts

The Palouse, Washington

I’d been wanting to get up to the Palouse area of Washington State forever when we finally made it there last year on our road trip to Yellowstone and wow, it didn’t disappoint! The rolling hills of green and gold were truly out of this world and I couldn’t look away from the incredible landscape in front of me, in awe that this beauty was in the borders of my own country and in my own little corner of the Pacific North West. You’ll find little farming towns dotting the landscape, while rolling hills of the most vibrant green and gold transport you somewhere completely out of this world.

For more, read my:

Palouse posts

Alaska

Awww, Alaska, my love. We visited the incredible state of Alaska for the first time a couple Summers ago and are heading out on a cruise to Alaska next week and I can’t wait to be back up there! I fell hard for Alaska and told Nick after our first visit that my new life goal is to have a vacation home up in Alaska someday, that’s how much the state meant to me after visiting. The scenery in Alaska is incredible and it feels as if you’ve been transported beyond the US to somewhere totally different. You’ll find landscape like you’ve never seen, a small town vibe and the most amazing wildlife in the USA’s wildest landscape.

For more, read my:

Alaska posts

Newport, Rhode Island

A few years back, we spent a Memorial Day weekend road tripping around the North East of the USA, visiting Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. And while we loved a bunch of spots on that trip, the standout for me was Newport, Rhode Island. This beauty of a town is straight out of a storybook, with East Cost shingled buildings, ocean views and a small town charm, you’ll find Newport to be the coastal city of your dreams!

For more, read my:

Newport posts

4 Simple Things I Did that Changed My Life (and made me happier)

May 14, 2018

At the beginning of 2018, I started the year in a low place. In reality, I had been feeling pretty down throughout all of 2017 for a number of reasons and realized that to start the year off on a better footing I had to make some changes. While they seemed small at the time, in reality, they have actually completely changed my life so far in 2018 and have made me so much happier on a daily basis. So in the hopes that these small changes might help your life too, I thought it would be worthwhile to share after I’ve been living with these life-changing alterations for almost half of the year now and I can tell you definitively, I’m 100 times happier today than I was on January 1st.

Stop saying yes.

This was my main goal this year and whoa has it made a difference. I’ve always been a “yes” person, often to the detriment of myself. The past few years I’ve taken on way too much, adding on unnecessary stresses to my life and I came to the realization that my life had become about quantity and not quality. This year, I started to say No to those things that I really didn’t have time for, no to the things I really didn’t like or care about and no to things that I knew would stress me out. It’s ok to not say yes to everything and that was a really hard lesson for me to learn.

I’m noticing just 5 months in from making a conscious effort to do this, I’m a million times happier. And even when I’m busy (which I still am) I actually enjoy what I’m doing and relish in the work that’s in front of me instead of doing stuff I hate and it’s made all the difference in the world.

Know when you can help and when you can’t, and need to walk away.

I had a family situation last year that I thought I could help with and in the end, I realized that I just couldn’t offer what was really needed. While I can offer support, at the end of the day we all make our own choices and lead our own journeys. Learning when you can actually help and add value to a situation versus when you really just can’t make any difference, is a valuable lesson. Learning to walk away when you can’t fix something is often a really hard and painful lesson, but sometimes, walking away is the healthiest thing you can actually do.

Be kind above all else.

I realized late last year when I was in a really sad situation how many people I didn’t know went out of their way to just be kind to me. When people are just genuinely kind to each other, it’s incredible how much tiny acts of kindness help when you really need it. I made it my resolution from then on to just be kind, above all else. Kindness truly changes the way you see people and experience things in life and if we could all just be a little kinder to everyone we encounter, the world would be a happier place.

Eat healthier for my body.

I’ve always been a pretty healthy eater, but this year I’ve really been focusing on eating for my specific needs and health. Genetically, I have really high levels of inflammation in my body (like off the charts high) so this year I have focused on eating more anti-inflammatory foods and foods that will help with that specific issue. I wouldn’t say I’ve deprived myself at all, but I have really taken a hard look at what I eat and what foods make me feel great and lower my inflammation levels and which foods do the opposite. After a few months of really making an effort, I have noticed my inflammation levels begin to go down which is so encouraging and I’ve lost some weight in the process even though I wasn’t trying to. I definitely don’t diet (I love food) and when we travel, I’m not worried so much about this but when I’m at home and have been able to really focus on it, I have and it’s made a huge difference. It doesn’t take much to really just think about what’s good for your specific eating needs and try to work more of that into your life – I promise, it will be worth it!

What Still Drives Me to Travel

May 11, 2018

I’ll be 32 this coming Fall and I’ve basically been traveling my whole life. Starting with growing up overseas in the Middle East, then doing a lot of trips to Korea for work when I started my career and now traveling regularly with Nick, experiencing as much of the world as we can, travel has always been a constant for me. For me, there is absolutely nothing in the world that gives me the sensation that traveling does: that rush of curiosity, the sense of being completely in a different place, pulled out of my comfort zone, new languages, new scents, new scenes, new people. Travel has a way of curing any ailment that might possess me at any point in time, it harnesses the wildness inside of me, it completely captures my emotions and makes me a better person with each moment that passes.

All of us have to find in our lives that thing that centers us, that thing that makes us better, that thing that makes us the best version of ourselves. And I think a lot of us struggle with that and it takes a long time to find something that truly makes you feel whole, that brings out the humanity within us, that just makes your soul feel free. In essence, that thing that makes you feel that way, is for our mental health, it’s what makes us, us and keeps us healthy and happy. It’s what keeps us on track and what pushes us further. For me, travel is a mental health exercise, it’s something that keeps my soul healthy and that pushes my mind to learn more. It forces me to grow and change and exist beyond just the daily grind – and that is what still drive me to travel and why it always will.

The world is becoming increasingly heavy – we’re all worn down, we’re exhausted, we’re too busy, we’re always “on,” and sometimes that just takes too much of a toll on our mental health, on our existence. Sometimes, we need to remember what the world was like before we all spent all day on cell phones, sometimes we need to remember what it’s like to not understand anything someone says to you but to laugh with them all the same, sometimes we need to remember that we’re all more alike than different, sometimes we need to remember how it feels to just sit and watch the sun set, sometimes we just need to take a moment to remember that work and family and responsibilities can be paused, that the moments we spend truly taking in a moment are still worth it. That’s what travel brings to the table for me, a way to stop and take in the moment, to watch the sun set over the Seine in Paris and not think of anything else going in the world. Those moments that only travel can offer sometimes are what still drive me to chase them, to spend my time and my hard earned money to follow moments around the world for as long as I possibly can. Because at the end of day, travel for me isn’t how many sites I see, it’s not checking things off of a list – for me, travel is how many moments it offers me, how many experiences it opens up, and how many ways it changes me to my core.

How to Make Travel Easier in Your 30’s

May 9, 2018

Ok I’m going to be honest today – while traveling around the world may look glamorous, it’s really not. And while I travel a lot and I absolutely love it, Nick and I have noted many times in the past few years that as we get older and travel more, it gets harder with each passing year. Travel is exhausting, it takes you out of your comfort zone, it puts your brain on overdrive and alters your internal clock. While I could go on and on about the amazing affects it has on your body and life, it definitely also has some negatives on our bodies physically and that’s just the honest truth.

As I’ve gotten older and into my 30’s, I’ve realized that now is the time to make travel a little easier on my body and schedule and while I’m definitely not giving it up, I’ve spent the past year figuring out how to make travel easier in your 30’s and how to make it just a little more comfortable so that all those amazing things that travel gives us don’t do harm to ourselves in the process. If you’re feeling the same way – you love traveling but hate the actual process of traveling, here are my best tips for making it easier!

Upgrade your Flight

The best way to make the act of traveling easier is to upgrade your flight. And no, that doesn’t mean you have to have millions of dollars to be able to fly around the world in lie flat business class seats! We’ve started really strategically using points to fly at least one way of our International trips in business class lie flat seats. We realized that the amount we fly, it was getting really hard on our bodies, especially on long haul flights, to sit in economy seats and it wasn’t doing us any favors when we arrived somewhere totally exhausted and our backs hurting. Using points to pay for business class seats is the best way to go and I’m a big fan of the Alaska Airlines points program to book international flights on points (hello Japan Airlines from Tokyo to Honolulu for only $52!). Figure out a way to make points work for you and I promise, you’ll arrive so much more refreshed!

The other way to do this without using points is to always upgrade to Premium Economy and just pay for it. Every airline is different in what they call their Premium Economy and while on some you’re not getting that much extra, I’ll tell you every tiny little bit counts, especially on a long haul flight.

I share lots of Travel Tips about how to get better deals on flights and upgrades all the time so be sure to follow along!

Upgrade your Hotel

I’ve never been one to skimp on hotels as I know when I’m traveling I want to be comfortable and get a really good nights’ sleep so I can fully explore to the best I can during the day. But as we’ve gotten older, while we might have spent a night or two at a cheaper hotel to save a little bit of money, now it’s a priority to have a great hotel with a great bed that we can relax in. Our trips are often go, go, go… so we need to prioritize a good hotel that offers us some rest and relaxation while we’re in our room. I promise, you’ll feel so much better physically for your days of exploring if you have a good hotel and bed to sleep in at night!

Function over Fashion

I still love packing for trips and really enjoy the forethought that goes into what I’ll wear in a specific destination, but as I’ve gotten older, no longer do I bring the shoes that will give me blisters no matter how cute they are, no longer do I bring light clothes because they look good even when I know I’ll be freezing. Function over fashion is the name of the game now, and not to say you can’t still have cute outfits, but I’m going to be comfortable over anything these days. You’ll enjoy a place more if you aren’t wincing from blisters or shaking from the cold, I promise!

A Video Tour Through Hong Kong and Japan in the Spring

May 7, 2018

We recently spent a glorious Spring week wandering through Hong Kong and Japan under a sea of Cherry Blossoms and making our way through these two amazing places in the world. Japan is one of my favorite countries and Hong Kong was a fantastic surprise with how much we liked the famous city known for its cosmopolitan flair and amazing food. And since you couldn’t make it on the trip with me, here’s a video tour through Hong Kong and Japan in the Spring so you can feel like you were right there alongside me as the cherry blossoms fell like snow!

Traveling to Japan?

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A Return Visit to Tokyo for 24 Hours

May 4, 2018

After our week spent in Hong Kong, Osaka, Kyoto and Nara, it was time to head to Tokyo for a couple days at the end of our most recent trip to Japan. We spent a week in Tokyo about a year and a half ago for the first time and fell in love with the city and the country of Japan on that trip and it was our experiences on that trip that made us want to make this return trip for Cherry Blossom season. Tokyo is an amazing city – huge yes, but clean, sophisticated, easy to get around – it’s become one of my favorite cities in the world and I don’t say that lightly.

We arrived to Tokyo Station by bullet train from Osaka and headed up to what has now become our “usual” spot while in Tokyo, the Tokyo Station Hotel. We dropped off our bags since it was too early to check in and headed across the street to one of our favorite ramen spots in the Marunouchi area of the city. After an incredible lunch of gyoza and ramen, it was such a beautiful Saturday in Tokyo that we just grabbed a bench and sat in the sun, watching people shopping and wandering around. We actually just sat there for a while, taking it all in.

After a bit of rest, we wandered over to the Imperial Palace grounds nearby in Chiyoda and up to the top of the palace hill to wander through the open park up there, followed by a walk around the grounds to see the famous Chidorigafuchi Park along the moat that encloses the palace grounds. This park is famous for its cherry blossoms and while they ended up being past their peak by the time we got there, it was still beautiful and everyone was out enjoying the beautiful weather. It was amazing to me how just a few days earlier in Osaka and Kyoto we had hit peak blossoms, and then just 3 days later, many of the blossoms in Tokyo were already past their peak – amazing how nature works! We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering back around the palace grounds to our hotel where upon returning, tired and sore from walking for hours, we were taken to our room in the Tokyo Station Hotel which ended up being one of the largest suites in the hotel! We seriously couldn’t believe our luck – which we chalked up to it being Saturday night and we happened to be in town just for one night (most people probably have longer stays) and me working with the hotel in the past for LOM, but regardless, we spent the evening in our massive corner suite and watching the sun set over the city outside.

The next morning, we really only had a half day in Tokyo before needing to leave for the airport, so we headed back to a favorite neighborhood of ours: Shinjuku. I love Shinjuku for many reasons – the true “Tokyo” feel, the shopping, the ease of getting there via the Subway and of course, there is a Laduree there for a macaron fix. We arrived at Shinjuku station and headed first Starbucks for one last Black Tea Latte (can’t this Japanese Starbucks fave come to the States!?!?), then meandered down to Yodabashi Camera for Nick to browse camera gear, followed by macarons at Laduree before jumping on the Subway back to Tokyo Station to grab our stuff and head to the airport to fly home. While it was definitely a quick trip in Tokyo, it cemented my feelings on the city as one of my favorites around the world. It’s fantastic for a week or for a day in my opinion and there is truly something for everyone in Tokyo!

Tips for a Quick Visit to Tokyo

For food, most buildings and train stations are full of little restaurants in food court type settings but the food is amazing! We especially love the Marunouchi Building near Tokyo Station for great little food spots including our favorite ramen place in the area.
The subway and train system is amazing and will get you anywhere in the city fast – use this over taxi’s unless your going really off the beaten path.
Tokyo is really walkable so bring comfortable shoes and take in the sites that way!

Headed to Japan?

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Deer, Owls + Temples : Exploring Nara

May 2, 2018

I came across a photo of Nara a year or so again and made a point to get it on our travel itinerary for our return trip to Japan. In the end, it ended up being my favorite spot of the trip and I’m so glad I made it a priority. While Nara is small and somewhat still off the beaten path compared to nearby cities like Kyoto and Osaka, it offers a beautiful view of this area of Japan. Only a 45 minute train ride from Osaka, Nara is tucked back in the countryside and the train ride itself is stunning.

Upon arrival, Nara Station is small and un-assuming. And after you leave the station, you’ll be met with a little city that is quaint and charming. We wandered up the main road, past tons of little shops and restaurants toward Nara Park, the main reason we had come to this beautiful little city. Nara is famous for this massive park and green space, where you can wander for hours and come upon temples and other shrines throughout the grounds. But the most amazing thing about the park – the wild deer that roam freely and are friendly with people. I love animals and this for me what a highlight of the trip, as we wandered through the park grounds bright and early (before the tour busses showed up) and tried to pet every deer we saw, which was a lot!

We wandered up the hillside towards the Todai-Ji Temple where the famed Great Buddha resides. The temple itself is grand and beautiful, coupled with the entrance filled with some of the most beautiful cherry blossoms we saw the whole trip, but the real show is the Great Buddha upon entering the temple. This massive structure is overwhelming and it really took some time for me to take it all in. While Nick was taking photos, I found a bench in the corner to just really take a moment and see what was in front of me. After our day previously in Kyoto at the Fushimi Inari shrine full of tourists which made it hard to really understand and take in the beauty of the shrine, I wanted to make a real effort to that here. The sheer size of the statue was incredible, but the more I thought about it, the reverence behind such a place, it was a beautiful spot to spend a moment really taking it all in and really seeing what was in front of me.

After our time in the temple, we wandered back through the Nara Park grounds, bought some green tea ice cream and just sat in the park, petting deer and saying how beautiful this part of Japan is. Little did we know, that the best was yet to come!

After ice cream, we headed back down the hill to head back to the train station and head back to Osaka, when we stopped at a few little shops and bought some souvenirs. Just after leaving one of the shops, I saw a sign for an Owl Cafe. Now I had read about owl cafes and how popular they are in Japan and I also know how much Nick loves owls, they are his favorite animal! We tucked our heads inside to see what it was like and we knew we had to do it. Long story short, we spent an hour in the cafe putting owls and getting to hold them. I have literally never seen Nick so excited – he just kept going back and forth between all the owls petting them and taking pictures of them. We especially fell in love with little Kin, a tiny little owl that even at full grown was only about 5 inches tall. He was so gentle and curious and ended up being our favorite. And while I try always to be responsible in places like this with animals, it made me feel good that the ladies running the cafe really loved the owls and would nestle their heads against them and talk to them, which made me happy that even though the owls are in captivity, they were loved.

After our incredible hour with the owls, we wandered back to the train station and headed back to Osaka after a wonderful day in Nara, which I can’t recommend highly enough! If you are going to go to Nara, I would again suggest, same as I have for all my Japan posts, go early in the morning. By the time we left around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, there were a ton of tour busses coming in. All in all though, Nara was gorgeous and I would for sure go back.

Traveling to Japan?

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The Truth About Traveling : Being Respectful as a Tourist

April 30, 2018

A few years ago when we traveled to Rome for the first time we of course spent a morning at the Vatican, as it’s a world renowned travel site regardless of what religion you might practice. During our visit to the Sistine Chapel within the Vatican walls, I was so looking forward to a peaceful and spiritual moment within those four walls of the famous Sistine Chapel, wondering in awe at the historic artwork, taking in the awesome moment of thinking about everything that had transpired there, and having a moment in silent prayer in such a holy place. I grew up Catholic and while I fell away from the church years ago for a number of reasons, I still consider myself very spiritual and that moment in the Sistine Chapel should have been one of meaning. Instead, we were crowded in like sardines, people pushing us from behind, talking loudly and whacking us with their heavy backpacks. In short, it got so claustrophobic in there that we could barely wait to get out of there. A holy and historic site was diminished to how quickly we could exit through the crowds, which is such a shame.

A similar event happened as we visited the famous Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto while in Japan recently. I have seen so many photos of this beautiful monument, heard so much about it and couldn’t wait to visit its 5,000 gates. And then as we boarded the train headed there, the tourists started to board as well and the silent peaceful aura on typical Japanese trains was filled with American accents and loud voices, packed in like sardines again. I knew at that moment that I wouldn’t get the experience at the Fushimi Inari shrine I had hoped and yet I still held out hope that people would be respectful. In short, my suspicions were validated.

Upon entering the shrine, people started pushing each other and in a place that should have been peaceful and zen, loud voices and shoving took over. It turned in to people just getting a photo in their silly poses instead of taking in this historic monument and relishing in the meaning behind it. As a tourist, my first goal is always to tread as lightly as I can. And over the years, I’ve always tried to fit in as much as I possibly can in a place. If the people of a destination are generally more quiet, I’m more quiet. If the destination is orderly and queues up, I queue up. If we’re in a holy place, whether it’s my religion or not, I’m respectful and reverent. And after so many years of traveling, I’ve been able to get so much out of visits to destinations all over the world by making more of an effort to fit in and follow local customs. If for no other reason, it allows you to see the world through the lens of the place and shows your reverence to the local area where you are.

I have noticed more and more around the world as the tourist sites fill up and as more and more people travel, there is more and more a lack of respect. People traveling often want everything to be in English, they want to be the first in line, they don’t want to wait for a photo. In this society where we all want everything and we want it our way and we want it fast, sometimes when we travel we have to remind ourselves that that’s not the mentality around the world and that sometimes in different places, we need to change the way we act, the way we talk, the way we dress to be respectful. As travelers, we need to be the ones to lead the way for this way of thinking and we need to realize that no matter where we are, we must have the dignity to put our ways aside and act accordingly in the place we are. If we could fully experience mountain temples and shrines in the serenity they are meant to be experienced or stand in awe looking up at the Sistine Chapel in silence and reverence while witnessing history first hand, we all would get more out of travel and so would everyone around us.

So the next time you’re traveling, make a mental note to be more respectful in whatever way that may be. Make a mental note to be a little quieter, to dress accordingly to local culture, to embrace your destination without trying to make it something that it’s not. And the next time you’re in a place that you’re a tourist in a different country, remember to stop and really take in what’s around you and what it means, instead of just trying to get an Instagram-posed photograph.

More “Truth About Traveling” Posts

Tour Groups + Temples : Kyoto in a Day

April 27, 2018

When we knew we were headed back to Japan (after our first visit to Tokyo a couple years ago), I was actually most excited to visit Kyoto, a city I had heard so much about and seen so many photos from. It was one of those places that I think my expectations were a little too high and to be honest, of all the cities we visited on this trip, Kyoto ended up being my least favorite. I think perhaps going back in the off season (not peak Cherry Blossom season) might be a better option to really experience it how it should be experienced, but while our day in Kyoto was a little crazy, we still covered a lot of ground and saw a lot.

We arrived in Kyoto pretty early in the morning (around 7am) on the bullet train from Shin-Osaka station to Kyoto Station which took only about 14 minutes. And because we were jet-lagged and up early, as well as wanting to get an early start at the tourist sites, we quickly realized that nothing in Japan really opens up that early. We had planned on getting breakfast at the train station or nearby in Kyoto and since nothing was open, we jumped on a train and headed to the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest first thing that morning. The train was simple and when you get off, there is a map that points you in the right direction down a path that takes about 10 minutes-ish to walk to the bamboo forest. We were a little confused looking at the map and a nice Japanese gentlemen helped us along – an anecdote that is so true to the Japanese people and something I love about their culture – how helpful and kind they are to everyone.

After a beautiful walk down back alleys and little lanes, we arrived at the entrance to the Arishayama Bamboo Forest. I had seen photos of this but it really is breathtaking in person. We were lucky that because we were there so early, there weren’t a lot of people (unlike when we left an hour or so later and it was getting crowded) and the early morning sun was shining through the bamboo and illuminating it oh so beautifully. We meandered along the pathway, taking it all in and then circled back toward the entry as tons of people were headed up. Wandering back toward the train station, we jumped on the train back to Shin-Osaka station, grabbed some breakfast now that things were open and then jumped on another train taking us to the famous Fushimi-Inari shrine that I’ve seen so many photos of.

This is sort of where our day went a little downhill – we boarded the train that wasn’t set to leave for 12 minutes. Within those 12 minutes the train started really filling up, like people packed together filling up. And it was all tourists, mostly Americans who proceeded to be loud and obnoxious, yelling and swearing and whacking people with their monster backpacks. Now I feel like I should preface this by saying, I have a whole post coming on this subject, but I whole heartedly believe that everyone should try to blend in a little better when traveling and try to be respectful to the local culture and this train full of people who were being overly loud and rude, for me threw off the whole experience of the Fushimi Inari shrine from the start.

After the train arrived at the shrine entrance, it was a mass exodus from the train as we all started up the hill toward the shrine. Now this shrine really is incredible and beautiful and it’s tucked into the hill side with thousands of red gates leading towards the top of the shrine. And I can only imagine how beautiful and serene it is when no one is there – I would love to experience that. Our experience there was sort of like cattle being herded into a fenced area. People upon people upon people, loud and ignoring what signs said for which ways to go. It was pretty chaotic and we definitly get to experience this monument like I think it should be experienced. It took Nick about 40 minutes of waiting in one spot to get a photo of the shrine without mass amounts of people in it. So while, yes, go see the Fushimi Inari shrine, I would recommend a couple things: 1) If you go in peak season, go first thing in the morning and 2) Go in the off seasons and really enjoy it.

After that, we grabbed a taxi and headed to Pontocho, a little alley way near the Sanjo train station that is a beautiful little old Japan scene with lanterns and tiny restaurants. Wandering down the alley, we then meandered over into the Nakagyo-Ku ward of Kyoto and came across the most beautiful little canal and cherry blossom trees totally by luck. We spent some time just taking it all in was the pink petals fell like snow and the water reflected back the beautiful scene. We grabbed lunch in the area (which was our least favorite meal of the trip) and then finished our day in Kyoto by walking back to the train station to jump on a bullet train back to Osaka.

All in all, I’m glad we saw Kyoto, but I would definitely only go back in the off season or try to see things early in the day as Kyoto is a huge tourist draw in Japan and it just made the whole day there a little chaotic.